4.  The applicant was born in 1952 and stays in a custodial clinic in the Netherlands.
5.  On 15 June 1996 the applicant was arrested and detained on remand on suspicion of having attacked two persons. Criminal proceedings were subsequently taken against him.
6.  In its judgment of 21 October 1996, the Amsterdam Regional Court (arrondissementsrechtbank) found the applicant guilty of attempted homicide and assault. Finding further that at the material time the applicant was suffering from an inadequate development and pathological disturbance of his mental faculties, the Regional Court concluded that he could not be held criminally responsible. However, as he had been found guilty of two violent crimes in that he had twice attacked a passer-by for no reason and had already been convicted many times in the past of crimes of violence, and given that expert reports had concluded that he was a potentially very dangerous individual who would probably re-offend, the Regional Court decided that the general safety of the public required that an order for the applicant’s confinement in a custodial clinic (terbeschikkingstelling met bevel tot verpleging van overheidswege; “TBS order”) be imposed.
7.  On 5 November 1996, no appeal having been filed, this judgment became final and the TBS order took effect. Pending his admission to a custodial clinic, the applicant was held in pre-placement detention in an ordinary remand centre (huis van bewaring).
8.  On 21 September 1998 the public prosecutor filed a request with the Amsterdam Regional Court for a two year extension of the applicant’s TBS order, which was due to expire on 5 November 1998.
9.  On 9 November 1998, following a hearing on that day and after having noted the parties’ submissions and an expert opinion drawn up on 4 September 1998, as required by Article 509o § 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Wetboek van Strafvordering; “CCP”), recommending a two-year prolongation of the applicant’s TBS order as the applicant’s condition had remained the same as in 1996, the Amsterdam Regional Court decided to extend this order for a further period of two years.
10.  On 8 December 1998, the Netherlands State and the applicant concluded an amicable settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) in which the applicant waived all rights or claims relating to the time spent in pre-placement detention in excess of six months and granted the State a final discharge in this matter in exchange for financial compensation according to specific modalities set out in this agreement.
11.  On 16 November 1998 the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 9 November 1998 was recorded at the Registry of the Amsterdam Regional Court. Pursuant to Article 509x § 1 of the CCP, such an appeal must be determined as soon as possible (“zo spoedig mogelijk”).
12.  On 25 March 1999 the applicant was admitted to a custodial clinic. In accordance with the terms of the amicable settlement agreement of 8 December 1998, he was paid compensation in a total amount of 42,860 Netherlands guilders (“NLG”).
13.  On 29 October 1999, the applicant’s lawyer requested the Regional Court to inform him of the date on which the applicant’s case file had been transmitted to the Arnhem Court of Appeal (gerechtshof). He sent reminders of this request to the Regional Court on 23 November and 22 December 1999, and on 6 January 2000.
14.  By letter of 18 April 2000, the applicant’s lawyer informed the President of the Arnhem Court of Appeal that he had been informed by the Regional Court’s Registry in a telephone conversation of 11 January 2000 that the applicant’s case file had not yet been transmitted to the Court of Appeal and that the matter would be looked into. He further informed the President that this case file had apparently now reached the Court of Appeal.
15.  In its decision of 22 May 2000, following a hearing held on 8 May 2000, the Arnhem Court of Appeal quashed the decision of 9 November 1998 and, on a different basis, decided to prolong the applicant’s TBS order by two years. It rejected the applicant’s argument that the public prosecutor’s request for prolongation should be declared inadmissible or that the requested prolongation should be mitigated on the ground that Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated. It held that there had been an undesirable delay in processing the applicant’s appeal and that this delay was imputable to the Amsterdam Regional Court given its failure, apparently as a result of a mistake, to transmit the applicant’s case file without delay to the Court of Appeal. However, in view of the length of the delay, the nature of the TBS order and weighing all relevant interests involved, the Court of Appeal saw no reason to declare the public prosecutor’s request inadmissible. In balancing all the relevant interests, the Court of Appeal took into account, on the one hand, the applicant’s interest in having a speedy decision and his right to be protected against arbitrariness and, on the other, the interests of society in a prolongation of the TBS order. As regards the latter consideration, it had particular regard to the fact that the applicant still required treatment and to the seriousness of the offences committed by him on which basis the TBS order had been imposed. No further appeal lay against this decision.
16.  On 29 August 2000, the applicant’s lawyer wrote to the Arnhem Court of Appeal, requesting a copy of the official record of the hearing of 8 May 2000.
17.  By letter of 13 September 2000, the President of the bench of the Arnhem Court of Appeal that had determined the applicant’s appeal informed the applicant’s lawyer that, in cases like that of the applicant’s, no formal record was drawn up of hearings, this not being felt necessary as no appeal could be filed against such rulings. However, the essence of what had been discussed during the oral proceedings was reflected in the wording of the decision and not only what had been decisive for the ruling. This had also been done in the decision taken on the applicant’s appeal.